On the Trail with... Marcy Schwam

Last August, I had the privilege of meeting a hero in the ultra world, Marcy Schwam, at a Nordic Walking clinic. Schwam taught us proper form, telling us she was toughened up by the streets of New York City, where she mastered the "F-you walk," a low center of gravity power stride. She demonstrated, complete with chin thrust forward and an aggressive, "Get out of my way unless you want trouble" look on her otherwise smiling visage.

Schwam’s athletic career began with tennis, a sport she mastered well enough to compete in Virginia Slims’ professional circuit in the 1970s. She hit her stride with the running boom of the mid-70s. She explains, "Running was really my life, post-tennis. Remember I am pre-Title Nine. I planned my early athletic career around tennis from age 5 on. I really thought I would play professional tennis. Running in the late Sixties was a way to be as fit, as fast and as prepared as I could be for tennis." In college she made friends with the men’s cross country team and ran her first marathon in 1972, while still playing collegiate tennis.

Schwam moved just as quickly into the brand new realm of ultrarunning, at which her success was immediate, becoming the first woman to complete the 72-mile race around Lake Tahoe in 1978. "The run around Lake Tahoe got me hooked and I gave up all plans for a real job, real career, etc., in search of the next challenge. Long led to longer." In grad school, Schwam was enthralled by human endurance while studying exercise physiology. "I was already a fan of the Tour de France, Iditarod, and Wasaloppet. So I set my sights big."

Schwam traded world records in the 100K and 24 Hour with Sue Ellen Trapp. Schwam set a world 100-mile track record of 15:44:27, lowered her marathon best to 2:47 and, in September, 1981, finished third among men in one of the world’s premier ultras, the Santander 100K in Spain, running a 7:47:28 to blow away Trapp’s 8:05:26 world record.

When pushed, Schwam will tell you her greatest running accomplishment was her world record and being the first woman to break six hours for 5O miles. To this day, there are only a handful of women who have done this. "That was one of those races that I was so well-trained and prepared for and I went to Chicago specifically to attempt the feat. I'd come off successful marathon training and carried that into the event," she says.

Schwam says that she learned the power of the mind when running the 100-mile, 48-hours, and six-day events, at which she was one of the first women to compete. "I've many great accomplishments of which even I shake my head at the speed and distance balance. Trails came after speed was no longer a real pursuit. I love the woods and trail was still something new; just another adventure. After six world-record times and showing the running community how women could perform, I moved to the woods."

Schwam says that she doesn’t compete anymore, she "participates." That didn’t keep her from finishing the Pikes Peak Marathon last August, complete with blood running down her face from a misstep that did little to slow her, much less prevent her from finishing. You can bet the trail was probably worse for the wear, because you don’t mess with Marcy Schwam!